[NU Sports] Tipping Point Near ?

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> In any event, season tickets at Ryan Field remain a
> great deal.  The 
> price has hardly gone up over the past several

No doubt they're a good deal compared to other Big Ten
schools - but there still was a bit of "sticker shock"
this year when each season ticket was priced at $200+
... granted it was for the extra game, but still, it's
hardly like it's a big-name foe, and that adds up with
multiple season tickets.

And I'm sure at the big schools, fans are really
forking over the extra bucks with some having 8 home
games ... and those extra 2 games are hardly
mega-matchups in most cases. That could be an extra
couple hundred bucks on multiple season tickets.

Yes, college football and NU especially isn't out of
control yet and they could charge a lot more in many
cases. I was just saying that as an NU fan and season
ticket holder for more than a decade, it is reaching a
"tipping point" for me and I'm sure many others. I'd
like to support the school and athletic department,
but it's reaching a point where it might not be worth
it. Especially with the Big Ten Network and other TV
options (good for the league and NU no doubt, to have
games on TV, but nonetheless a factor for those of us
outside Chicagoland).

As for individual game tickets, I'm sure students and
many alumni will still pack stadiums ... but in terms
of other fans and future fans, $50+ a pop for tickets
sure makes it tough to take a family of four or five
to a game. Thankfully NU is not there yet and has many
family specials - but with the rate things are going
elsewhere, who knows.

It'd be a shame if it did get out of reach - I
attended a couple of NU and Wisky games as a kid with
friends from grade school and one of our parents.
Neither program was packing their stadium, so there
were good deals and it was pretty cheap for 6-8 people
to go. And it was a great time. In places like
Evanston where you don't have the 100,000+ sellout of
massive amounts of alumni and state fans, that family
walk-up was a help for some of those September games.

Not to mention the college student and the Big Ten
road-trip. A group of us made it to every Big Ten
stadium and Notre Dame during our tenure in Evanston -
it's part of the college experience. Sure, if most of
us weren't in NUMB we'd still get in free for home
games so it wasn't like we were breaking the budget,
but today a tour de Big Ten stad would be pretty
pricey!

Oh well, just an off-season topic that's good to
discuss I guess. I don't think anyone's saying that NU
isn't a value or that some of the big programs
couldn't charge twice as much ... just lamenting the
coming day when the season ticket or single-game
ticket will be out of reach for many fans. 

And part of it may be also questioning whether that's
a good strategy in Evanston, where we have trouble
filling Ryan Field anyway. To use the Vegas analogy -
you can charge $250+ for Celine because it sells out,
but if the arena's half full for Frank Sinatra Jr.,
they're not going to increase the prices for the next
show ... or maybe just for the shows where he brings
Celine over to do a duet.:)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

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